Three weeks into the project and I woke up one morning with a chunk of one of my molars missing. Slightly alarmed by this discovery, I phoned our Medical Officer to find some answers. I was told it had probably dislodged in the night due to bruxism (tooth grinding), a problem I have suffered in the UK also. An appointment was kindly made for the following morning during which my tooth was painlessly cleaned and filled and I was able to return to work confident that I had been well treated. However, for some, access to dental care is not so easy.
The dentists who worked on my tooth, friends of the Progressio Nicaragua Country Representative, offered to get involved in the project by giving the volunteers a presentation which would enable us to provide sessions to the children at the school on dental hygiene and hand washing. On Tuesday morning the dentist arrived at the school and covered topics on proper flossing and brushing techniques, and common problems such as cavities, tooth loss and bruxism.
Before the end of the presentation each volunteer was equipped with a small tube of tooth paste, a tooth brush and hand soap to be used in the sessions with the children this week. One UK volunteer said “We only get one set of teeth so it is important for the children to be properly educated on this.”
By ICS volunteer Fae Krakowska
